Click here to view and hear a slideshow of the navy's history in photos.
The photo is called Five Little Sailor Boys, and it shows just that: Five young sailors dressed in the classic blue-and-white uniforms of the early 20th century that many of us associate with the navy.
They have their arms casually wrapped around each other and all are smiling, unaware that once they departed from Esquimalt Harbour, they would never return.
The young men were among the 20 killed when armed patrol ship HMCS Galiano sank off the Queen Charlotte Islands amid a heavy storm on Oct. 30, 1918, less than two weeks before the end of the First World War.
The photo hangs in the museum at CFB Esquimalt -- a clear example of base historian Debbie Towell's goal to not only tell the facts and dates of the Canadian navy's history, but the stories of its people, their actions and emotions.
Although the deaths aboard the Galiano don't stand out in Canadian history because they were among the tens of thousands of people killed in the First World War, the ship was the only Canadian naval vessel lost in that war. As such, it was a major loss for CFB Esquimalt, the sinking is a key point in the base's history, Towell says.
"This room really starts in 1910, the beginning of the Canadian navy," she says of the base museum, pointing out the model depicting B.C.'s first submarines obtained in 1914.
Yet, while the Canadian navy is celebrating its centennial this year, the birth of CFB Esquimalt goes back to the mid 19th century.
The British Royal Navy decided to set up operations on Vancouver Island in the late 1840s, after tensions grew between Britain and the United States over trading rights in the Pacific Northwest. Royal Navy personnel surveyed Esquimalt Harbour in 1846 and 1848, and the port at Esquimalt Harbour was christened in 1848 when HMS Constance dropped anchor there.
Buildings started to sprout during the Crimean War between 1854 and 1856. James Douglas, the governor of Vancouver Island -- which had been declared a colony in 1849 -- was given money to construct hospitals to care for those injured in battle.
The hospital buildings, erected on seven acres at Duntze Head, at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour, came to be known as the Crimean huts and were the first step in establishing a permanent shore facility on the base.
From there, Esquimalt grew as a strategic support base in the Pacific for the British navy -- on June 29, 1865, the Royal Navy's Pacific headquarters were moved there from ValparaÃso, Chile.
In 1871, British Columbia secured its entry into confederation with a condition that a drydock be built at Lang Cove. By 1887, the graving dock was complete, giving Esquimalt a facility capable of holding the largest warships in the Pacific. But as ships grew larger, it was decided a bigger drydock should be built nearby.
That location was chosen because it was sheltered from wind and was situated on a solid rock basin -- ideal for a drydock. Construction on the dock began in 1921 and took six years to build. The Esquimalt Graving Dock officially opened on July 1, 1927, the second largest in the world at the time. Since then, it has become a huge economic generator for the region, attracting hundreds of millions in ship repair contracts for both private and navy ships.
By that time, the Esquimalt base was in Canadian hands.
The Royal Navy had left Esquimalt in 1905, leaving only two ships and a skeleton crew to maintain the site. The withdrawal encouraged the Canadian government to create its own navy, which it did on May 4, 1910.
- - -
Over the years, the base expanded. By the Second World War the Esquimalt base "really came into its own" as the prime training base for naval personnel in the West, Towell notes.
In 1942, the base moved beyond the red brick wall that had served as its original boundary, swallowing up a considerable portion of the Village of Esquimalt and forcing 60 families to leave their homes, many of which would be turned into married quarters for sailors and their families, although others would be demolished.
That move epitomized the love-hate relationship that the naval base and the town would long share -- the base provided employment for residents, but those residents didn't have any say on what happened on the base.
"You have people saying 'my dad is here because of [the base], but we lost our house,' " explains Darwin Robinson, mayor of Esquimalt from 2002-05 and a navy veteran.
The municipality and the base have always been intertwined, he says, adding: "Esquimalt's history is the navy's history and it will always be."
Among those that had to move in 1942 were Don Bendall, 72, and his brother William (Bud) Bendall, 79, who were three and 11 years old when their family had to move out of their four-bedroom Pioneer Street home, which is now where the ordinance building sits just inside today's main gate at HMC Dockyard.
William Bendall remembers his father saying: "Well, we've been expecting it."
The Bendall family was one of the last to leave in April 1942, finally settling in a home in Fernwood.
"They told us we had to move because of the war, because the dockyard was expanding," recalls Don Bendall, who would later spend more than 35 years working as a shipwright for the navy. Coincidentally, his last parking spot on the base was where the front yard of his first home would've been had it not been torn down.
Since the 1940s, the relationship between the base and the town has improved, Robinson says. "The quickest way to get in trouble in Esquimalt was to knock the military," he says, adding that many citizens settle in Esquimalt because they were drawn there during service with the navy. Even those with no navy ties realize that the fact the base shares their name promotes their home to the rest of Canada.
Current Mayor Barb Desjardins affirms that the relationship has strengthened, saying the two entities work closely. Recently, the Department of National Defence kicked in $2.4 million to improve the safety of the intersection at Admirals and Colville roads, even though its not on base property.
- - -
On April 1, 1966, Canada's navy, army and air force were integrated into the Canadian Forces, and the base was named Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt. It is now home to 1,500 buildings, 5,000 hectares of land and 6,000 employees (4,000 military and 2,000 civilian).
"The navy ... we have rich histories and it's important that we hang onto the story that unfolds with history," says base commander Capt. Marcel Hallé.
Hallé points to landmark buildings on the base: the Admirals House, which is 125 years old; the museum, which was originally the base hospital; or Bickford Tower, a signal tower which was heralded for its outstanding maritime engineering when it was built in 1901 but made obsolete two years later when a military telephone system was introduced. He calls them "little gems that are important reminders of our past."
Towell, too, looks at the red brick buildings that were erected during the late 19th century and calls the base "a historical district."
"CFB Esquimalt's story is always changing, it's always evolving," she notes, adding that the wide
publicity surrounding HMCS Winnipeg's participation in a NATO anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden last year was a solid reminder for people that the navy is still actively protecting the waters.
"Every day when these guys go out to sea, they're making history for future years to come."
As the navy celebrates its 100th anniversary this year with the promise to "bring the navy to Canadians," Times Colonist reporter Katie DeRosa and photographer Debra Brash bring the people, places and objects of CFB Esquimalt base to life.
Saturday, May 29
Welcome to the base: About the 6,000 people who work there, and what they do.
Sunday
Workers on the base: Jobs for military personnel on the base run the gamut.
Today
History of the base: As with all heritage sites, ghost stories lurk around.
Tomorrow
Life on the base: The base's communities pull together when loved ones are at sea.
Thursday
Civilians on the base: About one-third of the employees on the base are civilians who work in jobs as diverse as rope- making and museum curating.
Friday
Business of the base: The base pumps more than half a billion dollars a year into the region's economy.
Saturday, June 5
Ships at the base: CFB Esquimalt is home to the navy's Pacific fleet. Find out what life is like on the ships.
